What Love Is
by jennycraig10
Summary: Sarah Brown was assigned to spy on Agent Vaughn and Agent Bristow by Lauren Reed. As she observes them more and more, she observes what love is.
1. Chapter One

Disclaimer- I own no one except for the character of Sarah Brown. All characters beside her belong to ABC and the show Alias creator J.J. Abrams.  
  
Chapter One-  
  
My name is Sarah Brown and I was just transferred from a small agency in Vermont. I thought life at this agency would be more exciting, but really it was just as boring as my old agency. Mostly all I did was look through files and just sit and wait to be called on a mission. It has yet to happen.  
  
I was only at the CIA for a month when the woman named Lauren Reed walked up to me with my first assignment.  
  
I was just sitting at my desk, looking through files about other agents, trying to learn what I could. It was an "a-hem" from Lauren Reed that made me realized she was standing next to my desk.  
  
I glanced up and saw her standing there, dressed in a gray work suit, holding two thick vanilla folders. I knew who she was already, being the daughter of a senator. I stood up and offered her a handshake.  
  
" Hi, I'm Sarah Brown," I introduced. I offered a smile and she did the same, although hers seemed a little stiff.  
  
" I have an assignment for you Agent Brown," Ms. Reed said. She then walked over to a corner, and I followed. I watched as she glanced around, making sure no one was really paying attention to us. She then looked at me and said, " You are to spend a week observing two agents, Michael Vaughn and Sydney Bristow."  
  
She handed me the folders. She then continued, " You will accompany these two on a mission to France. You all will be going undercover to retrieve a vial of antidote to an illness that has now begin to spread world wide."  
  
I nodded, taking in the information. " What illness is this?"  
  
" This illness had been recently discovered by the CIA. It is very contagious. It is called the Controller disease, a little microscopic bug that can multiply in just seconds. It then attaches itself to all your organs, slowly controlling everything. It controls how you breathe, how your heart pumps blood, how you walk, etc. The antidote has been made, but there is only one vial that contains only a few drops. We need to get that vial and make more of it to treat the infected. The problem is that we do not know the exact location where the vial is held. That is why you, Agent Vaughn and Agent Bristow will pursue any leads in France. We need to be able to find it in one week, before the virus takes full effect on those infected. But be warned, you could get infected." I felt Ms. Reed looking me over, perhaps wanting to see if I was afraid or not.  
  
I showed no emotions but simply ask, " And why do you need me to observe Agent Vaughn and Agent Bristow? Is it because you are afraid that they might not be able to handle the mission? If that is so, then I don't think there is any need to worry. From what I hear Agent Bristow is a stellar agent, and she and Agent Vaughn do great work."  
  
" I already know that," snapped Lauren. She then tried to control her voice as she said, " The only thing I want you to do is see whether they get a little distracted."  
  
" Distracted how?"  
  
" Just watch out for any non-related mission conversations, or anything personal, etc between the two. I don't think I need to explain anymore." Lauren crossed her arms and glanced around again.  
  
I looked through Agent Vaughn's folder and came across the part about him married. I smirked. " His your husband?"  
  
" Yes," reluctantly answered Lauren. " Anyway back to your job-."  
  
" Technically my job is to spy on your husband?" I started to get the picture now.  
  
" No it is to see if anything seems un-agent like behavior between him and Agent Bristow," Lauren voice rose. " Do not jump to assumptions Agent Brown. If you cannot handle the job then I can just-."  
  
I shut the folder close and looked at her in the eye. " I can handle the job. Don't worry Ms. Reed I'll be sure to note down anything that seems "un- agent like behavior" between the two. I'll have a report for you by the end of the week."  
  
Lauren looked at me, untrustingly I'm sure. But she knew as well as I did that I am best for the job. After all if she didn't want her husband to find out someone was spying on him; it should be me doing the spying. After all who would ever suspect the new agent to spy on her husband?  
  
I knew the job was pointless and perhaps even stupid, but I took it anyway. Simply because I was never the type to turn down a job and I always had to do it well and anyway, who knows? Maybe I could find some entertainment here after all..  
  
- On the plane heading towards France-  
  
I was sitting on a couch as the plane set off for our destination. I looked through the files Lauren gave me, but made sure no one really knew what the files were about.  
  
I had met Sydney Bristow and Michael Vaughn an hour earlier. Sydney was a pretty brown hair woman, with a kind smile. I knew I would like her, but too bad I couldn't get too close to her. Michael Vaughn was a gorgeous man with green eyes. He looked better in person than the picture in his file. Lauren Reed was certainly blessed.  
  
I reviewed my file on Sydney Bristow and saw she was a stellar agent like I heard. She took down the agency SD-6 all by herself, of course with the help of the CIA, but still I could tell she did most of the work. Still what fascinated me about her was the fact she had just came back, losing two years of her life with no memory of it. She was definitely an interesting agent.  
  
I was about to go over Michael Vaughn's file once more but out of the corner of my eye I watched as Sydney walked over to Vaughn who was sitting in a seat staring out the window. She took a seat opposite of him and sat in silence.  
  
This was my chance. I got up casually and walked to the seat close enough to them. I pretended I just wanted to get a drink and when I poured myself a glass of water I eavesdropped.  
  
" Vaughn, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Sydney asked. I noted how mad she was, but also there was a little hint of pain hidden in her voice.  
  
I heard Vaughn shift in his seat and he didn't respond.  
  
Sydney continued. " Don't think I haven't notice how you ignore me or just walk the other direction when I head towards you. I want to know what the hell you think you are doing!"  
  
" I think you're reading too much into things Syd." I hear the strain in his voice.  
  
I took a seat drinking my water and casually glance through the folder.  
  
" Bullshit," she said. " Tell me the truth. Why are you ignoring me? And don't give me any crap Vaughn."  
  
Silence. I stole a glance towards them and saw Vaughn looking down at his hands. He then looked at Sydney.  
  
" I can't- it's best this way Sydney," was all he said.  
  
" Damn it Vaughn! I want the truth. Before you demanded to know why I closed you out and I told you. Now I'm doing the same and it's your turn to tell me."  
  
" Syd- I know you losing two years of your life is hard. I know I'm not doing anything to help you- after all of our history. I know I'm hurting you.. And no matter what you say Syd, it's the truth. I'm - I'm sorry." I hear him get up and walk away.  
  
I'm sure Lauren would love this little conversation. I closed my folder and look up. Sydney was frustrated, her hands clenched into fists.  
  
I walked over to her and sat down in the seat Vaughn had occupied earlier.  
  
" I'm Sarah Brown," I said. " I heard so much about you Agent Bristow. It is truly an honor to be working with you."  
  
" Nice to meet you," Sydney said politely. " Please, call me Sydney."  
  
" Thank you Sydney," I smiled. Then added, " I couldn't help but see that you're frustrated. Is something wrong?"  
  
Sydney looked surprised. She shook her head. " No. Just a little.. It's nothing really. So. I heard you just transferred here."  
  
She changed the subject. All right, I'll let her just this one time. I smiled and nodded. " I really wanted to get away from the limits my old agency had. I wanted to be able to get some real experience and I felt this was the place to get it."  
  
" Believe me you'll get what you want," Sydney muttered. I could tell that she meant that wasn't a good thing. She tucked her brown hair behind her ear and said, " Excuse me Sarah." She got up and walked towards Vaughn who was sitting in a seat. He was looking at us, but had quickly looked away. Sydney almost paused by his seat, but didn't. She just kept walking and opened the door to another part of the plane then closed it.  
  
I was able to see the quick glance Vaughn gave to her and I could tell the glance Sydney gave back. There was obviously a past between the two and some tension. I wonder. What is behind all the secrecy?  
  
I realized someone had sat down in Sydney's seat. I looked at him and saw it was Eric Weiss. " Hi," I said.  
  
" Hi," he smiled, " You're Agent Brown right?"  
  
" Right," I nodded, " but please call me Sarah."  
  
" Sarah, I'm Eric Weiss, you can call me Eric." There was a little awkward moment between us. Then, " So, I hear you're from Vermont." I nodded. " Great apples come from there right?"  
  
I raised a curious eyebrow and offered a little laugh. " Yep, the finest I ever had." I could tell he wanted to start a conversation, perhaps even to get a date from me. He's cute, but I'm not really interested. Still I knew he could provide some valuable information.  
  
" How long have you know Sydney and Vaughn?" I asked.  
  
Eric answered, " Oh a while now.. Why you ask?"  
  
I shrugged innocently and said, " It's just. I notice the awkwardness between the two. I just want to know if it would affect the result of the mission."  
  
Eric gave a little laugh. " Believe me nothing can get in the way of the mission. Sydney and Vaughn- their two agents that lets nothing distract them- even if their feelings are all tangled up."  
  
" Tangled up?"  
  
" Oh- you don't know do you?" He looked at my confused expression and was deciding whether or not to tell me. " You see. Before Sydney lost two years of her life, she and Vaughn were. Close."  
  
" You mean lovers?"  
  
" Yeah, I guess. Anyway Sydney then disappeared and came back only to find that Vaughn was married."  
  
" To Lauren Reed," I muttered. I started to get it now. No wonder she wanted me to spy. " They never broke up huh?"  
  
Eric shook his head. " Nope." He was about to say more but suddenly Vaughn called him. He excused himself leaving me alone with my thoughts.  
  
All I could say was this was definitely going to be an interesting assignment. 


	2. Chapter Two

Author's Note:  
  
Kate Finn-BH- I am so happy you're so interested in this story! Hope you like this chapter!  
  
CLR03- thank you for reading the first chapter. Here's another one for you!  
  
Georgia- I want to say thank you for your review. I'm not exactly the best writer, and after your review I realize you are right, I did over use some of my ideas. But hey I'm still learning to be a writer, and I may not be able to change some of my grammar errors, but I will try my best. I've never been good at grammar so this chapter might have even more errors. Hope that won't bother you too much!  
  
Fair Cate- Thanks for saying the scene with Weiss is funny. I'm glad it was. I am trying to get the perfect Weiss in my story and try to capture him like he really is. I thought I didn't do a good job, but your review really lightens me up. Here's another chapter for you. Sorry though, but not as much Weiss. I promise you in the next chapter he will be more mentioned!  
  
Thank you for all of your reviews. Because of you, I keep writing. I hope you like this chapter. This has a mission in it, and it may be very unrealistic. Please try not to be really annoyed by how my mission sucks! I never wrote a mission before and I don't know how anything goes. I hope it isn't too bad though. Thanks again and enjoy!  
  
Chapter Two-  
  
When I accepted Lauren's assignment to spy on Vaughn and Sydney, I didn't do it just because I never turn down a job. My reasons were more than that, mostly it was because I wanted to prove myself right about a theory I had came up with. See I believe love doesn't exist.  
  
My father and mother had divorced when I could barely crawl. My mother had said it was because they grew apart, but I knew my father had taken a mistress. I remembered when I was about ten I had came across a picture of my parents, both of them happy and looked as if they were in love. Then I came across another picture with my father kissing a blond woman; the date on the back was about a month after my parent's picture was taken. I ended up ripping both pictures into pieces, knowing that my parent's picture was deceiving and was the first proof how love was a game.  
  
My father had gotten married two years after the divorce, and that marriage ended up the same way, in another divorce. He then married four more times, each ending in the same pattern, divorce. He is now dating a supermodel, thirty years younger than he is. The old man was the one who made me hate the idea of love. If he can divorce and find another lover so easily, then that just proves how love can easily disappear.  
  
My mother on the other hand, still loves my father (he was the one that wanted the divorce from my mother). She still believes in the whole love crap, and no matter how I try, she would not get it through her head that love was an illusion and my father was an ass.  
  
That is why I agreed to spy on Sydney and Vaughn for they would be my final proof that love is all a load of crap. After all if both of them were deeply in love, why had he married after she gone missing? And if his love for his wife were strong, then she wouldn't have hired a spy now would she?  
  
Honestly I do not believe in Sydney and Vaughn "relationship" or whatever it is. I think they just want a little fun, fool around the wife's back, and then forget all about it. My father did that with all his wives.  
  
This assignment would be proof to everyone, once and for all, that love is nothing more than a joke. I would prove it, to the world and to my mother, who still hadn't gotten the fact that my father was a cheater and a bastard. Most of all I would prove it to myself that I am right.  
  
Love is nothing but a game- a game waiting to crush you and crush you hard.  
  
- Mission: To Require Information of The Controller-  
  
Thirty minutes before landing, all four of us were in the back of the plane, going over our mission. I realized how little people were involved in such an important mission. Just Weiss, Vaughn, Sydney, and I.  
  
Vaughn gave out the orders. " Weiss and I will be in a van, about a block away from the warehouse building where it is said to have Intel on where the antidote is. We already have access to the building's security and we will also act as backup. Syd-," Vaughn paused, cleared his throat, then said, " Agent Bristow will be accompany by Agent Brown. You two will then enter the warehouse through the back and there you must acquire some uniforms to go undercover. Most likely you'll have to take out some workers, to get the uniforms. After you do that, sneak into the main control room, located in the basement. There you will download all the information in the hard drive onto a disk."  
  
Vaughn turned to Weiss who took out some small devices. One was a little suction shaped in a black circle no bigger than the palm of my hand. " This," he explained, " is a device that will hack into the computers and find the Intel you want." He held up another thing, which was a small tube that looked like a breath spray. " This baby is a spray that can knock out an entire room of people with just 3 sprays. It'll only last 10 minutes though. Remember 1 spray knocks out a few people so wear a mask before you use it." He held up two black breathing masks.  
  
By the time the whole meeting was done, the plane was going to land. I was beginning to feel nauseated. This was my first major mission and I was starting to think of worst case scenarios. When I got up to leave, a hand touched my shoulder. I turned around and saw it was Sydney, giving me a reassuring smile.  
  
" Don't worry," she said, " I got your back."  
  
I smiled, and for some reason I felt a little better. But soon after, I felt a pang of guilt. She was treating me like a friend, and here I was secretly spying on her, ordered by a woman who must have cause her pain. Still I reminded myself that I had to do this, that I had to prove what I thought was right.  
  
Vaughn and Weiss were behind us. Vaughn looked at Sydney, opened his mouth and was about to say something. But he caught himself and instead turned to me and gave me a small smile. " Good luck," he said to me, although I knew whom he really meant that to. I just smiled and thanked him.  
  
Weiss gave me a thump's up and I couldn't help but think what a sweet guy he was. I was still a little nervous to dwell on him though.  
  
An hour later Sydney and I were dressed in black, standing behind the warehouse. Our intercoms were in our ears, our masks hanging beside our hips. Sydney was leading the way and in less than a minute we were in the building.  
  
" We're in," Sydney muttered into her intercom.  
  
" Copy that Mountaineer," said Weiss. His voice crackled in both our intercoms. " Keep going."  
  
" Any signs of security?" I asked.  
  
" None so far," responded Vaughn. I did a little quick note that Vaughn seemed to be answering my responses and Weiss was doing the same to Sydney. Coincidence? - I'll be sure to think about that later.  
  
Sydney and I kept going further into the building. Suddenly two workers dressed in yellow plastic suits with a little yellow hat were walking down a hallway ahead of us. Sydney looked at me and pointed. I nodded to tell her I understood.  
  
I watched as she ran up, then I followed silently behind her. Then she took out her mask and I did the same. Once we both had it on, she took out the spray. Within 10 seconds, the two workers were out cold.  
  
" Damn that's strong," I muttered mostly to myself.  
  
Sydney took off her masks and smirk. " I'm sure Marshall will be glad to hear that."  
  
We both crouched down and started to strip the suit off the workers. We hurriedly got into them and then set off once again.  
  
" Left or right?" I asked.  
  
" Take a left," Vaughn said into my earpiece.  
  
We did what he said and took a left. It led to another hallway; each side lined up with steel doors. It looked like a maze to me.  
  
Far down was an elevator on the left. Sydney and I ran down the hallway quickly pressing the button to open the door.  
  
My intercom suddenly crackled. " On the left side of the elevator there's a peeled wallpaper. Peel it all off and there will be a little a little string with a hoop. Pull it and it will take you to the basement."  
  
Sydney started to tear at the wallpaper and once the little string was revealed I hurried and pulled it. I impatiently waited while Sydney remained calm and collected. How does she do it? I think to myself, getting more and more amazed by her.  
  
I turned my attention back to the mission once the elevator doors opened and saw it reveal a place full of boxes. There were even a couple of tractors with about 4 workers operating them.  
  
" Keep your heads down and just look like your working." Vaughn said, " Try to hurry and get into the control room. It's located on the far right."  
  
We did as we were told. Other workers were carrying boxes so we both took a box and started to head towards the right, I did a quick check and saw that there was only about ten or twelve workers here. Suddenly a man with brown shoes appeared into my sight and I slowly glanced up and saw a man with overalls and a clipboard.  
  
" Where do you two think your going?" The man asked. " Those boxes need to go to the truck which is over there." He pointed to the back of us.  
  
" Oh sorry, we." I said and out of the corner of my eye I watched as Sydney threw the box she was holding at the man. Then she kicked him down to the ground.  
  
" Wear the mask," Sydney said breathlessly. Once on, she took out her spray and instantly the whole room was knocked out. Still wearing our masks, we immediately ran towards the main control room and luckily the door was opened.  
  
" I'll access the computer and you search around here for anything that could be important to us," Sydney ordered.  
  
I began opening the file cabinets; speeding through each paper picking out the few that looked important. I hear Sydney type something then heard her mutter, " Damn."  
  
" What?" I asked still not bothering to look at her.  
  
" The computer needs a member code and I have to hack through this before the device will do the rest."  
  
" How about the workers Id? That could work couldn't it?" I asked while scanning.  
  
" Worth a shot," she muttered. I put the file I was looking through down and went back out. I picked the guy with the overalls and found his ID card. I returned to the room and gave it to Sydney.  
  
She typed it and then said; " It works. Ok setting off the device." Then after a minute she got up and started to look through some files too.  
  
Click. The downloading was complete.  
  
" You got everything?" She asked me as she placed the device into her pocket. I nodded and grabbed all the folders and papers. We set off in a run trying to hurry and reach the elevator before the ten minutes were up. But the problem was the lights suddenly turned off.  
  
" What the hell?" I muttered.  
  
" Not good," said Sydney. She then put her hand to her ear and cried, " What's going on?"  
  
" It seems like there is someone turning off all the electricity," Weiss told us. " And another thing they're accessing another computer on the 5th floor. That's the only floor with electricity still running."  
  
" What are they accessing?" I asked.  
  
" Don't know," responded Vaughn. " Just get the hell out of there."  
  
I looked around and saw that Sydney was looking for an escape.  
  
" This place has no escapes. No windows, nothing. There's not even stairs," Sydney cried in frustration. She looked at an unconscious worker lying a couple feet from her. " We have to spray again to buy us another ten minutes." She took out the small tube and sprayed three more times.  
  
" Guys! You gotta get out of there. Whoever is there with you guys, it looks like their coming down there too! And they have friends- BIG friends," Weiss said. " Wait- I'm making out their faces." Silence. " Damn! It's Sark!"  
  
" Sark?" Sydney cried, " What the hell is he doing here?"  
  
" Who cares," Vaughn said, " We'll find out what their doing later. Just get out of there! They know you're there." He's finally talking directly to Sydney, I thought to myself.  
  
" What if he knows something?" Sydney asked, more like to herself. " What if I can get it out of him?"  
  
" Syd-" Vaughn voice rose and now I could totally tell his urgency. " NO! Just get out of there! Now!"  
  
" Oh crap," I hear Weiss muttered. " Turns out their not coming down, Sark and some other guys just left the building. Another group of guys is heading towards another room. They're filling the damn place with gas! Seriously, find an escape!"  
  
Sydney and I looked around. There was no escape. I turned to her and said, " Let's split up. I'll take the left side, you take the right. We'll yell if we find an escape." Sydney nodded and set off towards the right.  
  
I scanned at the left side of the room. All I saw were boxes. Damn, how the hell can we get out? I began to take down the boxes that were stacked up in a corner. I knew the chances of finding a hole to get out was very little, but I wanted to die at least trying something.  
  
After about taking two boxes down, I uncovered a vent.  
  
" Sydney!" I cried, " There's a vent." I pointed to the one I found. " Right there you see it?" Sydney was by my side now and she said, " We got to hurry."  
  
Sydney climbed the stack of boxes, trying to be steady as the boxes swayed a little. Once she got to the top, she used all her might and thank god, got the vent door open and poked her head into it.  
  
" We'll have to go in blindly since we don't have any lights. It might lead us nowhere, and there's the chance that we might not get out in time," she observed.  
  
" Better dying while trying something," I muttered.  
  
She poked her head out and gave me a grin. " We'll make it," she said in a voice that was more then just confidence talking. She said it like she already seen the future and knew we were going to make it.  
  
Sydney pulled her whole entire self up into the vent and I heard some rustling. I began to climb the boxes too, and then once on top, I tucked the files into the band of my pants and pulled myself up. The vent was completely dark.  
  
I heard Sydney begin to crawl and I began to follow. I could feel the vent bend a little because of our weight. I began to feel claustrophobic.  
  
" How long until you guys are out?" Vaughn asked.  
  
Sydney answered, " Couple of minutes."  
  
" What about the guys that turned on the vent?" I asked.  
  
" Those guys have already evacuated the warehouse. You only have about a minute before it takes up the whole building," Vaughn answered. " Hurry." I think he wanted to add, ' Hurry Sydney,' but knew he couldn't for whatever his reason was. Odd, how I can still make these observations when my life was hanging in the balance right now.  
  
" I see light," Sydney suddenly said. She began to crawl even faster. A few more seconds of crawling and then we paused. I heard Sydney kick the other end and then.  
  
We were out!  
  
" Run!" Weiss suddenly cried. I was just getting out, and once I was completely standing on the ground, Sydney broke out into a run.  
  
It was like track back in high school. The only difference was that in high school, there wasn't a building behind you that suddenly exploded. The warehouse behind us suddenly exploded into flames, causing Sydney and I to fly down onto the ground, both of us instantly covering our heads with our arms.  
  
I could feel the heat on my back; it was intense, I could tell. I could hear and feel the hard beating of my heart. My mind just kept saying, 'You could have still been in there. If it was just another moment..' I sighed, feeling immense relief. I shook my head, flinging some sweat off.  
  
" Are you all right?" Weiss asked us. Sydney and I didn't answer until we both stood up. I sighed again and muttered, " Yeah, we're fine."  
  
Sydney and I turned and looked at each other. She was the one that broke out into a smile. Amazing how we could of almost died and she still could smile right after our near death experience.. Her smile was infectious because soon I too broke out into a smile.  
  
Sydney looked back at the building, taking in the intense flames, watching as the warehouse turn into ashes. She then looked back at me, the small smile she had now fading just a little. Without saying a word we both turned around and began walking back to the van. 


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three-  
  
Sydney and I reached the van and with Vaughn and Eric we went to a safe house. The safe house was a nice looking house, fifty miles away from the now ashen warehouse. Inside were two rooms, one for Sydney and I and the other for Vaughn and Eric. The kitchen was small but well stocked with food. There were weapons and computers there for us and our luggage were already in the rooms.  
  
It was now 12:30 in the morning. Sydney was exhausted and had retired into the bedroom. Vaughn and Eric were locked in their own room, looking through the Intel Sydney and I retrieved. I was alone, which was a good thing. I went into the bathroom and locked the door. I had a laptop hidden under the sink so that when I was alone I could finally contact Lauren like she ordered me to before I had set off for this mission.  
  
Once the laptop was on and online, I took a seat on the toilet with the cover down. I began to type the e-mail to Lauren. I wrote:  
  
To- Lauren Reed From- Agent Brown Subject- Update on Agent Vaughn and Agent Sydney Bristow  
  
During the plane ride to France I have notice some strange behavior between Agent Vaughn and Agent Bristow. Truthfully most of the odd behavior came from Agent Vaughn, the reason is yet unknown to me. There are no actual signs that any romance is going on between the two, but there are reasons for me to believe that something is going on. It is still too early for me to confirm your suspicions but I assure you that there is something secretive between the two. I guarantee that once this mission is over I will have more necessary evidence for you. Until then I will keep you posted on any further observations. Sign, -Agent Brown  
  
I clicked send and then quickly erased any traces of the e-mail. After I did that, I turned off my laptop and returned it to its hiding place. I made a mental note to retrieve the laptop in one hour.  
  
I lifted up the cover of the toilet and then flushed. I turned on the sink and ran my hands through the water. I dried them with a towel hanging on the towel rack and then opened the door and stepped out. I suddenly came face to face with Eric.  
  
"Eric!" I said startled. I closed the bathroom door behind me, silently hoping that if he went into the bathroom he would not look under the sink. "You need to use the bathroom?" I asked.  
  
Eric gave me a goofy smile and said, "Drank a little too much water I guess..... Plus I didn't really go after the plane ride."  
  
I laughed. "Well, you must have a lot in you!"  
  
Eric blushed which made me giggle for some reason. He laughed along too, but soon looked a little jumpy. I stood where I was, waiting for him to move towards the bathroom. Instead he just stood there looking around and only gave me a one second glance. He then muttered, "So......"  
  
I raised my eyebrows and crossed my arms. "Eric?" I asked.  
  
He finally looked at me. "Yeah?" He smiled.  
  
"Don't you have to go?" I asked and pointed behind me.  
  
Eric blushed even more and was all jumpy again. "Oh right! Yeah, I- I- I do have to go." I stepped towards the side and watched as he walked backwards and pointed behind him. "I'm gonna go," he muttered. He kept looking at me and didn't stop walking until he walked into the bathroom door. "Ow!" He cried. He gave me an even more nervous grin and quickly got into the bathroom.  
  
Once the door was closed I let out a laugh. I swear that Eric was such a sweetheart! I shook my head and my smile grew when I remembered how red he looked. I made my way towards my room, the smile still on my face. When I opened the door I found Sydney lying on her back, staring up at the ceiling.  
  
"Hey," I said as I closed the door. I walked towards my bed, the one a couple feet beside hers. "I thought you were asleep."  
  
"I'm always a late sleeper," she told me. Then muttered something under her breath. I heard something like, "Not sleeping..... Lately......"  
  
"Oh," I said. I sat down on the side of my bed. I realized that this was an opportune moment to get some information from her. "So......" I said, " What's up with you and Vaughn?" I hope I sounded casual instead of like a police interrogating a suspect.  
  
"Why do you ask?" She looked at me. Does she suspect anything? I quickly shrugged like it was an innocent question. "No reasons really," I lied. " I just thought that- you know what, forget I asked. I'm being too nosy." I looked away from her and occupied myself with smoothing out my blanket.  
  
Sydney sat up. "No.... No you're not being nosy. I'm sorry. I should have known how awkward things are for you. Being new and all and not knowing what's going on or anything."  
  
Sydney glanced at me and then looked away. "Vaughn and I.... We sort of have issues........"  
  
"Issues?" I asked. I looked at her innocently, like I knew nothing at all. "What do you mean?" Please, I thought, 'let me get something from her!'  
  
"I'm sure you heard about it," Sydney muttered. I could tell she was bothered by the gossip that surrounded her.  
  
"I know about your missing two years and all...... But that's pretty much it." I glanced at her. She looked pained, like she wanted to tell me, yet wasn't sure if she should. I was feeling a twinge of guilt as I tried to sound sincere. "Syd, trust me. I want to be your friend."  
  
Sydney gave a bitter laugh. "Believe me, you don't want to." I was about to ask why she said that but she continued, "Look, I'm sorry if you feel sort of the odd one here. Vaughn and I, our past makes things very complicated. Especially for this mission."  
  
Silence. Then, "He and I were......" She couldn't find the word she was looking for.  
  
I offered the one word I could think of. "In love?"  
  
Sydney shook her head and buried her face into her hands. I heard her muffled voice. "Yeah I guess...... See things were just getting serious between him and I, but then I disappeared..... And only to come back and find him married." She lifted up her face and I saw her eyes glisten. No tears dropped but I could tell she was keeping thing in. "It's hard, really hard."  
  
She took a deep breath. "He was there when I was undercover at SD- 6. There when I had to lie to everyone I love. He was the only one who knew the truth, the only one who kept me going. Because of him, I had the strength to take down SD-6. Vaughn wasn't just another guy." She gave a lopsided smile. "He was my guardian angel."  
  
The smile then disappeared. "I hoped, that even though things are really awkward between us, that we could still be friends. Like we used to be. But, now all I get from him is this cold person I never knew he had. He ignores me, rude to me, and he...... He isn't like himself when he's around me. His smile disappears when I'm near......" I could tell how much it was hurting her to describe how Vaughn acts around her. Obviously it pained her to have the one she love do that.  
  
"You know what?" She asked me. "I don't care anymore. He wants to play games, fine. He wants to continue ignoring me, go ahead. I'm too tired to care anymore. I'm just..... Too tired."  
  
Another moment of silence settle between us and it made its stay longer this time. After what seem like half an hour, I finally spoke.  
  
"Are you and Lauren, like enemies?" I hurried and added, "I mean if I was you, I think I would be mad at her." I watched Sydney who just shook her head.  
  
"No," came her answer. "No, I don't. I respect Lauren a lot. Don't get me wrong, its not like I am best friends with her or anything, but I'm glad Vaughn found her. I'm just so grateful that she got him to move on. I owe her a lot, more than she knows. She's a good woman, and Vaughn is lucky to have her."  
  
The way she praised Lauren brought disgust inside of me. I got mad at Lauren, knowing she wasn't any of those things. How can Sydney praise a woman who hired a spy to spy on her? Believing that she is committing adultery with her husband?  
  
I even began to feel disgusted with myself. I am the spy. I am the one pretending to be her friend, just for my stupid reasons.  
  
But then my reason wasn't stupid. It was perfectly reasonable. And anyway how long have I known Sydney? I just spent a day with her, and most of that was on a mission. How do I even know for sure that Sydney is as sweet as she seems? How can I be sure that Lauren wasn't really the victim here?  
  
I was torn. Between Sydney and Lauren. Between love and lies. Between my mother and father. Between myself and...... And who?  
  
I shook my head, trying to clear my mind from these thoughts. They were confusing me...... I need to focus! Nothing can get in the way of this mission. If I ever plan on being a good agent, I have to learn to not let my emotions get in the way. Even if the emotion is guilt.  
  
"Love is a cruel pathetic thing isn't it?" I said aloud. I didn't even know I did until the words were already out of my mouth.  
  
I felt Sydney look at me. "Why do you say that?"  
  
I didn't know how to answer her. Why did I all of a sudden say that? I was being such a fool! I was going to search for a way out of this topic when suddenly someone knocked on our door.  
  
Eric's head popped in and he gave a grin. "We got some news." His head disappeared from behind the door.  
  
I silently thanked Eric as I got up. "Let's get to work!" I said, a little too brightly. I walked out of the room, feeling Sydney's eyes on me.  
  
The guys were all in the kitchen, seated around the table. Sydney and I stood side by side, listening to what they had to say.  
  
"We found out why Sark was at the warehouse," said Vaughn. "It turns out that he wanted to find where the antidote is because he plans to use it as a bargaining chip with the CIA."  
  
"Last month the CIA require a scroll found in India. It's full of codes, and even now we can't seem to decipher it," Weiss said. "This scroll seems especially important to Sark and the Covenant."  
  
"So he plans to get the antidote and then trade it to the CIA in order to get the scroll," I concluded.  
  
Vaughn gave a slight nod. "The CIA cannot afford to lose the scroll, especially if the scroll turns out to be another Rambaldi artifact or directions to create a nuclear weapon."  
  
"It's now a race between Sark and us to get the antidote," Weiss said. " If Sark gets it, then we have no choice but to give up the scroll."  
  
"So any idea where the antidote is then?" I asked.  
  
"It's right here in France. It's hidden in a business building, owned by one of the top richest French men's, and his name is George Deve." Weiss handed Sydney and I thin gray folders. I opened it and there was a picture of a fat man with no hair, dressed in an expensive suit coming out of a limo. "He somehow got his hands on the antidote. Knowing how valuable it is, he keeps it somewhere in his building with top notch security."  
  
"There will be a banquet held at 7:00 p.m. You two will leave at 8:00 while Weiss and I will leave 30 minutes earlier," Vaughn informed us. " Weiss and I will be going undercover as business partners, our Alias will be Quentin Duffel and Alex Lexington, and we are there to make a deal with Deve about a business proposal. We'll try to get anything we can, but most likely we won't get anything. You two will be there as sisters, daughter's of a now rising businessmen in America. Your father will be Bill Richard. Your aliases are Brooke and Shelly Richard. Supposedly your father had an emergency meeting and informed you two that he couldn't make it. You two decide to attend the banquet anyway."  
  
We began to go over what to do after we were all in the building. After a half an hour later Eric got up and clapped his hands together as he said, " Okay that's it!" He began to stretch. "Let's get some rest. We have a big night, you know with fighting Sark and saving the world from a deadly disease and all."  
  
I laughed, but watched from out of the corner of my eye as Sydney threw Vaughn a cold stare and walked away. Vaughn's eyes traveled after her. And then he too walked back to his room.  
  
I gave one last smile to Eric, wished him a goodnight and then walked back to my room. As confused, as I am about whose side I'm on, I still know I have a mission to do. Nothing can get in the way of that. Besides, Vaughn seems to have more secrets I need to uncover than Sydney does. And by tonight, I'm sure I'll get it.  
  
I just hope guilt won't get in the way again. 


End file.
